IRTPTA 33🌸

Chapter 33

The corners of the Association President’s lips finally lifted.

If this were a battle against an enemy, he would never have risen to such provocation.
But now, this was a stage to measure the ability of this child.

He already knew. After two or three clashes of their weapons, he could sense there was no malice or killing intent in her strikes.

Through her spear, he could feel that this fight had begun solely for the sake of proving her own skill.

Since she knew he wouldn’t have granted her request if she had politely asked, she had simply chosen to lunge with her weapon first.

Her audacity was admirable.

And the fact that she could fight on equal footing with his swordsmanship, refined through over ten years of training, was praiseworthy.

Moreover, he could tell this spear technique wasn’t the result of some mastered skill handed down by the system, but painstaking effort and discipline.

Having dueled countless hunters through his long years of training, he could distinguish power born of skills from power carved out with blood and sweat.

The only puzzling thing was—where on earth had she learned such spear techniques?

She seemed to be holding back a little against him, but her spear was fiercely aggressive.

It was designed for killing, for hunting. Either she’d pierce straight for the heart with minimal movement, or distract with dazzling flourish before striking true.

Captain Park Woo-jun believed she had awakened only a few days ago—but clearly, that wasn’t true.

And if she’d hidden that fact, there must be a reason.

Through her spear, he could also glimpse her character.

Mischievous at times, yes, but fundamentally kind. She respected her opponent.

She was never someone who could become a villain.

And so…

“<Swordless Domain>.”

The Association President willingly used the skill she had been waiting for.

“<Swordless Domain>. <Flying Sword Technique>.”

“Ah! President! I told you, no cheat codes!”

Her spear slipped from her hand, and before she could even grasp for it, sword strikes flew through the air toward her.

Sae-byeok rolled aside, barely dodging.

But the President’s sword chased her relentlessly.

“Argh! You can’t just not let me hold a weapon! You know my class doesn’t work without my spear!”

“The battlefield offers no such mercy.”

“Ugh! Come on! Even battlefields have sticks lying around at least!”

“Endure it.”

“Uaaaahh!”

It was already their 128th spar.

Around the 100th duel, the President had realized she couldn’t use skills without her spear. Since then, he always used that skill to torment her.

She knew she had to overcome it, knew she had to devise a solution…

“This is cheating!!!”

Still, she couldn’t help but resent how the President kept hammering away at her single weakness.

“<Swordless Domain>.”

The moment she had been waiting for, Sae-byeok’s lips curved into a smile she couldn’t hide.

<Skill: Swordless Domain (A)>
Who would dare to draw a weapon within the Emperor’s realm? All who enter must throw down their arms and surrender.

The skill covered a 100-meter radius, filling the entire training chamber with ease.

As Sae-byeok leapt high and aimed her spear down at the President’s head—her weapon flew from her grasp as though flicked away.

At the same time, the President’s <Absolute Command> was also knocked from his hands.

A skill that forces all within its territory to drop their weapons.

Powerful indeed, though not always convenient—it spared no distinction between ally and enemy.

But in one-on-one combat, no skill was more absolute.

“<Flying Sword Technique>.”

For him, not holding a sword wasn’t a penalty.

<Skill: Flying Sword Technique (S)>
Who could ever predict the Emperor’s blade? This is the true pinnacle of swordsmanship.

The sword that had fallen to the ground rose on its own, edge gleaming, and flew straight for Sae-byeok’s chest.

She, mid-air in a downward strike, was left defenseless with her spear gone.

Yet the President did not redirect his sword—he sent it straight at her.

Because he was curious. Curious what she would show him now.

“President, did you know this?”

Sae-byeok, recalling an old memory, pulled her arm farther back—then thrust it forward with all her strength.

“<Lightning>.”

BOOOOM!

A deafening thunderclap shook the building, lightning striking down over <Absolute Command> with blinding force.

The technique lost its strength, crashing uselessly to the ground—just as Sae-byeok landed firmly atop it.

The object she had struck with fell from her hand, rolling away across the floor.

“The system doesn’t count pencils as weapons until the first strike is made.”

It was nothing more than a common HB pencil.

She grinned mischievously, pulling a fresh pencil from her inventory.

“And each pencil counts as new.”

Playfully stepping on <Absolute Command>, she spun the pencil around her fingers and smirked.

“Let’s see what runs out first—my pencils, or your mana?”

Knowing both <Swordless Domain> and <Flying Sword Technique> consumed tremendous mana, she could afford this provocation.

The President looked at the pencil on the ground, then at the new one in her hand, and burst out laughing.

“Ha ha ha! Well now.”

It was a genuinely delighted laugh.

“I thought none in Korea could challenge me, but it seems I’ve grown complacent.”

He adjusted his suit, rumpled from the duel.

“To think a hunter who awakened less than a week ago would make me feel such shame.”

“I’m sorry.”

Sae-byeok picked up his fallen sword and handed it to him.

They both knew—his words of shame came from respect, and her apology came from reverence.

“Your spear technique doesn’t seem like a passive skill. Where did you learn it?”

“Self-taught.”

The President’s eyes widened as he slid the sword into its sheath.

“You mean you countered all my techniques by self-study?”

“Yes.”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t self-taught—he had been her teacher.

“I thought about it hundreds, thousands of times. How should I block that? What should I do then?”

She had fought him relentlessly, to the point others called her obsessive.

Eventually, she could match him without using a single skill—her spear and body moving as one.

Even now, reborn, her body remembered it all.

Her muscles screamed in protest, but…

“It was an honor to pressure you even a little. So please, speak comfortably with me.”

Sae-byeok placed her hand over her chest and bowed politely.

“You may not have realized, but you are my master.”

“…Ha ha.”

The President brushed his lean face with his hand, chuckling.

“Now I feel embarrassed for ever doubting you.”

He obliged her request to speak informally, though his tone remained gentle—like that of a grandfather to a granddaughter.

It was a tone she remembered from her past life, and it stung her nose with emotion.

“Then… does this mean I passed?”

“If one who can fight me, the <Sword Emperor>, like that isn’t S-rank, then who is worthy?”

He looked around at the three other S-ranks, silently asking for objections.

Each, in their own way, declined to protest.

“Then I can get my hunter license right away?”

“Once you’re formally registered and the paperwork is done, you’ll have it by next week.”

“Can’t it be faster?”

“Why, is there a reason for such haste?”

“I may need to move.”

She pointed out the commotion outside—the collateral from their duel shaking the Association building.

“I don’t live alone. For their safety, I think I should relocate to the Hunter District.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll grant you immediate permission to move, so don’t worry.”

“Awesome.”

Perhaps because she was speaking with her master again, Sae-byeok felt like she was slipping back into the reckless child she once was.

“But, Master…”

“…So you’re really going to call me that?”

“Why not?”

“…”

The Association President rarely took disciples.

With the title <Sword Emperor>, nearly every sword-type awakener wanted to be his student.

He usually excused himself with busyness, but truthfully—if he accepted one, hordes would flood in, pestering him endlessly.

Even now, politicians and wealthy magnates constantly tried to bribe him to take themselves or their children as disciples.

He rejected them all. But if he acknowledged her as a disciple…

“Tell them this: if they want to be the <Sword Emperor>’s disciple, they must first defeat his disciple.”

Sae-byeok puffed her chest proudly, thumb pointing at herself.

“I’ll take care of all of them.”

“Ha ha ha!”

The President laughed even louder than before, his joy infectious.

“That’s an excellent idea!”

It was a trick she had used even in her previous life—so of course, she knew it would work.

Still smiling ear-to-ear, Sae-byeok picked up her fallen <Spear of Separation Anxiety>.

“But Master…”

She repeated the question she had been about to ask earlier.